Gree Electric Appliances' Dong Mingzhu's successor remains a mystery

Although all kinds of chances and coincidences put together will give people a sense of inevitability. However, when it comes to the successor of Gree Electric Appliances, no matter how many coincidences there are, they are just coincidences. At present, no one is more suitable than Dong Mingzhu to be the head of Gree Electric Appliances, and who will succeed Dong Mingzhu in the future is still a mystery.

Is the successor of Gree Electric Appliances Chairman and President Dong Mingzhu becoming clearer? Recently, as Gree Electric Appliances welcomed the first party secretary sent by the Zhuhai Municipal Government, coupled with his political experience in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it has once again triggered speculation and discussion about the successor of Gree Electric Appliances. It is believed that this is the government's early layout for the new head of Gree Electric Appliances to take over.

Later, Dong Mingzhu publicly nominated Huang Hui, the company's vice president, to serve as the newly created executive president of Gree Electric at the board meeting of Gree Electric. This was once again speculated by the outside world that Dong Mingzhu took the initiative to lay the groundwork for giving up the company's president position and taking on the role of chairman during the transition of the new board of directors of Gree Electric in 2018.

In fact, since Dong Mingzhu resigned from her positions as chairman and legal representative of Gree Group at the end of last year, speculation about the relationship between the Zhuhai Municipal Government, Gree, and Dong Mingzhu has been rampant. In particular, while Dong Mingzhu was in charge of Gree Electric, she also became the second largest shareholder of Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy. On the one hand, she promoted related transactions between Yinlong and Gree, trying to expand the revenue scale of the two companies through cooperation; on the other hand, she used her dual identities as the head of Gree and the second largest shareholder of Yinlong to promote Yinlong's investment and construction of factories in many provinces and cities across the country, such as Jiangsu, Hebei, and Henan, which seemed to be suspected of "harming Gree's interests and enriching Yinlong New Energy."

However, Dong Mingzhu affirmed at this year's shareholders' meeting of Gree Electric Appliances that "there will be no consideration of successors in the next five years." There is a big deviation between the outside speculation and the actual internal situation. At present, what the outside world can see is an extremely high-profile Dong Mingzhu who even criticizes opponents and peers at every turn and is a bit domineering; however, for the Zhuhai Municipal Government, what they see is that Gree Electric Appliances, led by Dong Mingzhu, continues to create new revenue scales and profits to ensure the stable development of this local state-owned enterprise.

From this perspective, Dong Mingzhu's high profile is not blind ignorance, but the recognition of relevant government leaders and the trust of the competent authorities, as well as her impressive achievements. Similarly, as the head of a state-owned listed company and the second largest shareholder of a private company, the reason why Dong Mingzhu can be open to external doubts and comments should be that she has been recognized by the government authorities to some extent. Otherwise, Dong Mingzhu would not be able to "play two games" and would often "difficult to distinguish between public and private."

Dong Mingzhu, who is already over 60, is still full of passion and busy, but she does not give people the impression that she has entered retirement. Although there have been many rumors about the successor of Gree Electric Appliances in the past year, there are many versions. However, for the Zhuhai Municipal Government, Gree Electric Appliances, and Dong Mingzhu, it is clear that they have not found a successor who is more suitable than Dong Mingzhu to be the head of Gree Electric Appliances.

For Gree Electric, the biggest challenge it is currently facing is not the sustainable development of its traditional air-conditioning business, breaking through the ceiling, and finding new impetus for scale. After all, Gree's competitive advantage in air-conditioning is already obvious and solidified, and is rolling in a sustainable channel. Rather, in recent years, Gree has been undergoing a series of transformations in emerging businesses, whether it is the transformation from air-conditioning to home appliances, or the transformation from home appliances to robots and automation, or even the entry into new energy vehicles that has encountered obstacles in the middle. Who else can take on these ongoing explorations besides Dong Mingzhu? The answer is not clear.

There is another important hidden factor, which is the channel moat construction around Gree Electric in recent years, as well as the diversified transformation from Gree air conditioners to Jinghong refrigerators, and even a series of "intricate and confusing" related transactions with companies such as Yinlong New Energy. The relationship between Dong Mingzhu and Gree, including the second largest shareholder of Gree Electric, Jinghai Guarantee, the national general agent of Gree Electric and Jinghong refrigerator investor Shengshi Hengxing International Trade, and Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy, is definitely not something that can be solved by changing a successor.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.